Craig selects the Staff Pick of the week, Bandshell’s latest release on Charles Drakeford’s FTD.
We welcome Craig to his first contribution to the Staff Pick. When he is not working behind the counter at Phonica, Craig also co-runs elliptiq, a Sunday daytime party at The Yard in Hackney Wick focused on the leftfield side of techno. His pick is Bandshell’s latest 12″ on London-based FTD, a compilation of sub-heavy tracks touching on grime, breakbeat and dark garage. This is what Craig has to say:
This one’s an absolute treat, Bandshell does it again with a 4 tracker on Drakeford’s FTD imprint. With releases from the likes of Lutto Lento, Niagara & Georgia, this one comes as a slight contrast from the weird and wonderful house/ electronica excursions we’ve been used to, and possibly the labels most stark release to date.
Those paying attention may recognise the name from an earlier release in the Hessle Audio catalogue. Although his releases are few and far between, he maintains a consistently high end output and is one to keep an eye on for those in favour of more experimental bass numbers.
The star of the show here is Polarising Haircut, which comes through with gut rumbling low-ends and choppy, head spinning percussion before fully kicking off the doors and rolling into a spiralling flurry of lasers and mechanical sounding stabs. This one won’t be polarising dance floors, straight up unity movements.
Well thought out textures and atmospherics paired with mutated drum workouts and devastating sub-bass make parts of this record equally at home in a dark, low-ceilinged basement as it would be in your living room.
Also be sure to check out the accompanying video for the A1. 4 minutes of a bald man in modernised cowboy garb happily flailing a pair of whips in various backdrops including snow, dojo and religious altar. Banging.
Get a copy of Bandshell’s FTD008 here.
